WHAT IS DESIGN FOR PRINT?//FINISHING: STAB STITCHING BINDING//OUGD504

STAB STITCH BINDING:
Inter­change­ably known as Japan­ese, stab and tra­di­tional Chinese bind­ing, pages are here sewn together with a single, con­tinu­ous thread. There are many vari­ations, far too many to cover here, but in recent years West­ern design­ers have helped bring some of them back into people’s con­scious­ness. Gift and children’s books are often to be found stab stitch bound, and increas­ingly design-conscious clients like Onit­suka Tiger, who pro­duced a superb stab stitch-bound 2004-05 trade brouchure are turn­ing to the pro­cess. Best used to bind pub­lic­a­tions on the thin­ner side and when wish­ing to add a tact­ile dimen­sion to a publication’s design, the effect can look pleas­ingly del­ic­ate, yet is a robust enough bind­ing method.

PROCESS EXAMPLE:

Cut and fold paper and cardboard to the size you want the book to be. Burnish the folds with a bone folder.

After scoring the back side of both the front and back covers (about 3/4" from side), clip all pages and covers with bulldog clips. Use some paper to pad the bulldog clips to prevent dents in cardboard.

For a 5"x7" book punch three holes with the awl: one in the centre and one on each end about 1" in.

Using book binding thread or a sturdy cord or ribbon, start stitching. I used a stitch very similar to what I did with wedding albums. It's pretty easy, but you really can come up with many different patterns.